January 15, 2025 • 38 mins
Drummer Rob Hammersmith joins to talk the latest with Skid Row, reflect on his upcoming 15th anniversary with the band, seeing Guns N' Roses live, and what not to do when encouraging your child to play an instrument.
More info: https://www.skidrow.com/
https://www.instagram.com/robhammersmith/
Our website: https://afdpod.com/
More info: https://www.skidrow.com/
https://www.instagram.com/robhammersmith/
Our website: https://afdpod.com/
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know this is Appetite for Distortion.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Welcome to the podcast Appetite for Distortion. My name is Brando,
Episode number four hundred and eighty eight. Welcome to the podcast,
mister Rob Harsmith, how are you much?
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Thanks for having me, Brando. Good to see you.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
I appreciate that Robert Harrismith from from skid Row and
I could say, I guess I can say fellow New
Yorker even though I'm in the Borrows and Tony Dans
and you're from Buffalo.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Originally, I'm originally from I claim Buffalo, New York. I'm
from a small town just south of Buffalo, New York.
So I'm at the complete opposite end of the state.
Most people, when you say New York obviously think of
the city and then most people most people assume that
New York State is two parts. You've got New York
(01:20):
City and then you've got what they call upstate. A
lot of people don't realize there's Central New York and
Western New York. So I'm from the opposite side of
the state from Western New York. But I'm down in Atlanta,
Georgia now, and I've been down here for I think
a fast track. I think about twenty six, twenty seven
years something like that. So I made a lap around
(01:41):
the country over the course of a handful of years,
and I came to Atlanta with the attention of staying
for three weeks and that was twenty six years ago.
So here I am, Yeah, here I am.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
All right, we'll get some of that story between moves.
And yeah, that part of New York you might as
well be Canada. You know, you might say lovingly too,
but it's like it's a different planet.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
I mean I could see it from my backyard, so
you're not wrong.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Well, I appreciate you taking someone some time to talk
out to talk to me today, skid Row. First of all,
can you just tell me, like, what's the latest going
on as far as live in London? Is that the
latest thing that skid Row is promoting that that's out
because I've been lucky enough to have all the other
current members on, so shout out the Snake, shout out
(02:29):
to Rachel, shout out to Scottie and now Rob and
you know live in London because you guys follow me
on Twitter and it's it's just been cool. So is
that the big thing you guys are pushing right now,
that's the biggest.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Yeah, so we have lost track of the dates. I
should remember these dates better. I believe it was late
October that the album dropped to the Live in London album.
The album was actually recorded close to two years ago now,
but you know, with most bands, we don't move as
quickly or as efficiently as we would like to.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Sometimes talk to a Guns n' Roses nerd like, well, yeah,
I mean it's the world the.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Worst, so I guess yeah, when you say it like that,
two years isn't so bad, right, Yeah, So that was
that was late last year, and we're really proud of
that record. We're really happy with with the final product
the band. It's hard to believe this, but in the
band's entire history, that is the first proper full length
(03:32):
live recording that the band has done, so that in
and of itself adds an extra level of excitement for us.
So we were really happy about that.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
And another thing that flipped back to the g n
R of course, I mean their live album isn't really
live where a lot of it's been doctored, and same
thing with the EP, so yeah, maybe we'll get an
official g n R all these years later life.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Yeah, would be we got these shows coming up. I
see they're announcing these shows for this year, So you
and I will talk about that at some point. Yeah,
maybe you can get some getting somebody's here about them
doing some live recordings.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
That would be great me and somebody's here. But that's
actually a great segue because I've spoken at nauseum about
and about certain things on this podcast, one of them
being is just to get you as an interview. I
I hate to say it was easy because I was
lucky enough that you followed me. I was like, okay,
(04:34):
so I assume if I asked him to be on
my show, great, and you did. And that's happened at times.
I mean, first time I got Dave Kushner from Velvet,
he that was set up through Twitter. You just never know.
But G and R A obviously a different monstrosity. And
long story short, I've been told, I've been I have
I'm not allowed to have certain members on again or
(04:55):
you all. It's just been a hot button issue. And
you know about hot button issues.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Here between, I'm surrounded by hot button issues.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yeah, you don't know what I'm putting, You know what
I'm putting down.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
I do, I do so. Oh.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I could also say this because it's still January. Happy
New Year, by the way, as well. My brains, my
brain's everywhere. So I didn't I say that because I
didn't have my twenty twenty five Bingo card either. You
following me on Twitter, but Richard fortis following me. I
don't know if you've ever met him.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
I've never met him. No, No, we uh in passing.
We occasionally in passing, whether it's a festival event or
or through mutual friends, we will occasionally cross paths. But
I have never officially met him.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Okay, because he's he's been everywhere, so you just never know.
I mean, the crossing paths is enough. I've never unless
he was on stage, I've never crossed paths, and he's
been in New York. I've just never crossed paths with him.
But now, okay, what you're thinking is what I was thinking.
This is a scam, right, I'm sure it happens on
skid Row's page. Everyone's age. Oh, this is this is
(06:02):
really you know, uh, this is really Rob Harsmith, or
this is really Axel Rose sent me a dine privately,
you know, a bullshit. So I'm like, this is not
going to happen. This is not really Richard fordis. Click
on the link, it's really him. Wow, Okay, I slept
on it because like, this must be a mistake. This
always happened to me my entire life, whenever a good
(06:23):
looking girl would You're.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Getting cynical in your old age. What's going on here, Branda?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
This is the part of New York that's different. You're positive,
I'm beat down. I'm negative. I'm like, he just must
have been this must have been a mistake. I had
to wait a full day and I I just reply
to him. I really wow. I follow him back, of
course at this point, I'm like, thank you. You know,
if you ever want to come back on the show,
I'll be careful what I talk about. I say this
to all my guests, as you know. And he just
(06:50):
responds with, you know, Hey, I'm on a road trip
right now and I've listened to the first five episodes,
and I really like what you're doing. I've never really
heard anything from the fan perspective like this. We're kind
of in our own insulur it kind of like our
own world, which is why I love these podcasts because
it kind of opens you up from the insulaur world
(07:10):
that where you're taken from this press junket to that
press junket, this stadium, this band. So I'll be I
won't reveal everything he said, nothing like too amazing, no
new music, and didn't ask about that. Wouldn't that be amazing?
That randomly Richard Fortce is like, gives me the day
for new GNR music.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
That's right, get scoop.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
But this is uh And I feel like, I guess
I can because you're a very I can see a
very sincere person and I can have this conversation with you.
And this is a good launching pad off from Richard Fortis.
Because Richard was on the show a few years ago,
didn't expect him to remember me. I didn't even get
into that, but what he took away and I didn't
(07:49):
know what I had said, and he didn't give a
specifics or what people on my show may have said
about his role in the band. Richard Fordyce has been
in the band longer than is he straddling. He's been
in the band for a long time. He's never claimed
to have written Sweet Child of Mind any of that stuff.
He's on Chinese Democracy, he's on the new releases, whatever,
(08:09):
but there are still fans that go, where's so and so,
where's is he? In his case, he even has a
shirt so hopefully you buy it and it says, I
don't know where Izzy is with his logo behind it
isn't that great? Yeah, so, but what he said it
hurt my feelings and I apologize to him, and he
said this wasn't towards me that he sees. I can't
(08:31):
believe he used this word that how unimportant that some
fans see his role that he's just doesn't matter how
great of a player he is. He's not easy. He's
not that person, okay, And he's like that was a
bitter pill to swallow. But I understand it. I know how,
and I gave him my opinion, which is what which
(08:52):
is the truth? I know how important his role is.
There may not be a current version of Guns and
Roses without him, and that's the right. You don't know
if how well he works in that room and makes
sure that all those personalities work is the reason why
it's that lineup today that it fits and why they're
so successful and they're going on tour again, what you
(09:12):
alluded to this year, is that something that you've so
the flip it back that you've struggled with, you know,
with the revolving door which guns roses have had with guitarists. Sure,
you've been with but you've been with skid Row for
what a decade now decade.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
I've been with skid Row for fifteen years, coming up
on fifteen years. It's that's a really, it's a long time.
It is a long time. It's the longest job I've
ever held, So that'll tell you by a long shot.
So I wasn't qualified to do much else. But that's
it's a really, it's a very good question. It's an
(09:51):
interesting scenario that you're describing. It's i to say, I've
struggled with it. It's been a challenge so to start,
people like myself and the Richard Ford situation, and anybody
who might be walking into a situation like this right
(10:11):
out of the gate. You're already choosing to work in
an industry where thick skin is a requirement. And that's
not exclusive to music. That's true of so many industries,
but entertainment in general. The music industry, you've got to
have thick skin. Even if you are an original member,
or you are a multi platinum artist or an amazing songwriter,
(10:37):
or whatever the case might be, you still need to
going into it thick skin is a requirement. And I'm
not gonna lie. I've had some days or some moments
that I was a little bit better equipped to get
through it than others. It's a challenge, but I think
for myself, I'm committed to what I do and and
(11:00):
I'm very fortunate that I'm in a situation and I'm
surrounded by people. We've had our ups and downs. Don't
get me wrong, it's a family. Anybody who tells you
that being in a band is like a family, they're
absolutely right. And it sounds cliche, but it's one hundred
percent true. And with that, you certainly have moments, or
you have days, or you have periods of time where
it's a little bit easier than others. So yeah, I've
(11:23):
definitely I think the struggle is probably the right word.
I've been challenged by it. Trying to figure out makes
sense of your role in something that's much bigger than
any one individual. That can be really challenging. And when
so many people the fan base or even if they're
(11:43):
not fans, if there if they're music enthusiasts, or if
they're record collectors or or whomever it is. Even if
they're not necessarily a fan, people claim a part of it, right,
So they claim a part of the history as whether
they've been a fan, or they've been following the band,
or they maybe were a fan for a particular era
(12:05):
and not so much anymore. Everybody weighs in on it,
so you've really got to within yourself figure out how
you feel about it and how you feel about your
role in things. And that's a roller coaster for sure.
So I can relate to that. I'm fortunate. I'm surrounded
by some very supportive people. I have found out in
(12:27):
my tenure with skid Row. If I'm struggling with something,
let's talk about it, let's communicate, let's support each other,
let's be respectful, let's really figure out how to make
this work for everybody. That's been my experience with the guys.
But I can certainly relate to the situations that you're describing.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
I appreciate you sharing that, and you're right, But the
thick skin I got to have it in my profession
and just in life you really needed I.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Think now more than ever, right, I think with this
thing called the Internet and just our culture the way
it is now, we really do have a culture and
a society where everybody, everybody has the ability to weigh
in on everything. And I don't know if that's always
(13:17):
a good thing. It's certainly not a natural thing. It's not,
but it's it definitely creates a different set of of
of criteria. I think that on a personal level, I
think people need to understand how they need to have
a healthy relationship with that and coexist with it because
it's not going away. And you also, at the end
(13:40):
of the day, have to understand that there are some
people out there no matter what you choose to do,
no matter what you do, they're not going to be impressed.
They're not going to like it. And and hopefully those
are fewer than than not. But but that's just the
reality of it.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
That's the right mindset, because yeah, there are some people
who you're just like, all right, I'm gonna mentally tap
out that nothing's going to change here. Sure, but also
those that you say that are the mainstays in a band,
whether it's Guns of Roses, or skid row. There are
those that are still going to find something to critique.
(14:17):
And again, I know that being a guns of Roses,
an axe, a Rose fan, I don't expect an almost
sixty three year old to you know, be like he's
twenty three. Again, that's sure, that's impossible. So yeah, no
matter who it is, you know, it just stinks because
I wish I could everybody could take step back and
(14:37):
just realize they're all people. It's funny. I like how
you phrased it. This is the longest job that you've
ever had. It's a job. You have a cool ass job, right,
but it's a job, and you're a person, and yeah
it's a public thing, but that shouldn't allow certain people.
Just just because you're public, doesn't mean you should be
allowed to certain open yourself up to certain and things
(15:00):
that I don't know, because you're you're still a person,
You're still you know. I'm sorry because I keep thinking
about the which is hard, even all the way on
the east coast here the LA wildfires, and I'm sure
you have a lot of friends over there. Absolutely, yeah,
just horrendous. You know, whether it's just the common person
who've lived there, the entire life there, or the celebrity
(15:23):
have lost their homes, and then you can see comments
about celebrities, Oh they can buy another house. Oh no
big deal, it's so whatever, and that bothers me. There's
still people, there's still people that lost their memories, that
lost their home, their beds.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Absolutely yeah, and they may have been an actual physical
danger at one point. And it's it's not it's not really.
It is human nature, I think to to want to
offer an opinion or weigh in on on every every
every subject or exactly what you're describing. But but you're right,
(15:57):
at the end of the day, it's not my place
to decide exactly how that affects that person. That's not
my that's not my place to do that. I'm not
saying that I don't, But that's a lesson you learn,
I think through through a little bit of growing up
and a little bit of maturity. But you're absolutely right,
that's really a really powerful situation right now, and we're
(16:20):
all seeing it. We're all seeing it, whether we're affected
directly and we're right there in it, or if we're
watching it on the news from the other side of
the country. We're all kind of seeing this thing unfold.
And you're absolutely right, it's a very fascinating thing to
watch how drastically different some people respond to it and
react to it. A lot of people I kind of
(16:43):
latch onto the story or the narrative of what might
be going on there, and there's a there's a a
temptation to use that for maybe a particular agenda you
might have, or opinions and things like that. Is that
right or wrong? I think it can be done incorrectly.
(17:04):
Like anything, there's the right way to do it and
the wrong way to do it. And it's just it's
bizarre watching people sometimes it's a it's a very interesting
thing to sit back and watch.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
That's the right word. Bizarre. It's very bizarre. You know.
That's because you kind of have to laugh at it,
otherwise you'll just go down, you know, a negative hole.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
But right, things can get dark pretty quick. And and
you know what, I say this, and you and I
we can we can be completely honest with each other.
It's I don't say all this stuff because I always
get it right. Uh, But these are the things as
I grow up and as I get older and really
start to look at people and and what kind of
person do I want to be or what kind of
(17:45):
person do I do I strive to be? Uh. It's
really interesting to watch certain situations like this and how
people respond to them.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
So this is a good jumping off point and to
flip from so much little the negative to more of
the positive, fun things to talk about. I told you
off air that my my dormance he'll be two in April,
baby Brownstone. I don't know if I'll start calling him
there was a toddler. I'll have to come up with
some stupid GNR pond for everything that I do. But
(18:17):
you mentioned off the air that you have a sixteen
year old.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
She will be sixteen tomorrow. That's crazy, right?
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Happy?
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Depending upon when I air this, either happy early birthday
or happy birthday because me they're a nice today or
the day after.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
You know I love talking about this now as a parent,
but I always talked about this anyway, just how you
were as a child, and I think you have spoken
about how you were your path in different interviews. But
when you were raising your daughter, you know, what kind
of music did you share with her? Did you ever
want to I don't want to say push her or
(18:52):
just maybe encourage her to be like for rock and roll,
to be a musician or you know, for me. My son, again,
he doesn't really ask anything yet other than miss Rachel. Okay,
But I mean he's got long blonde hair, he's got
ac DC T shirt. He's already I'm already pushing with
the be a rocker. Whether he likes it or not.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
That's a good question. Well, and I'll share a funny
story quickly. When we moved my family and we have
been in this home for almost thirteen years now. When
we first moved to this particular house, one of the
things that I wanted to do immediately was to finish
(19:33):
a space for myself to be able to play drums
at home and be able to do that, ideally with
access twenty four hours a day whatever I wanted to do,
regardless of what time it was, not bother people in
the house. And I know how dreadful it can be
living with a musician, and I didn't want to be
that person anymore if I could help it. So we
(19:55):
have a small area in our home. I have drums,
and I have some gear stored and things like that.
So when our daughter was very young, she would spend
time with me in the drum room and I loved it.
It was great. And what I realized a little insight
into my personality is I was a little uptight about
(20:16):
certain pieces of gear and reminding her to be careful
and don't touch this. You can play with this one,
but don't touch that one. And then I realized one day,
and this is where the story takes a turn. I
realized that I was letting maybe the uptype part of
my personality get a little out of hand. So I
gave the speech at the dinner table one night, and
(20:37):
I said, all right, here's the deal. I don't want
to be I don't want to be the person that
turns you off to the idea of playing music before
you even have a chance to fall in love with it.
So you are more than welcome to go in the
drum room play drums as much as you want. That
makes me very happy. I just have two rules. You
have to protect your hearing. And I gave her her
headphones and I said, just let me know when you're
(20:59):
going in there, because I can't. I always hear you
depending on where I am, and I just need to
know where you are. The day I gave her permission
was the last day she ever went in the drummer.
So when it was when it was forbidden fruit, like
any kid, like, I'm still this way as an adult.
But when it was forbidden fruit, she was in there
every day at least twice a day. And as soon
(21:20):
as I gave her permission and said knock yourself out,
have fun with it, that was the last day she
ever went in the drummer.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
So having said that, me attempting to be the little dad,
I didn't exactly go as planned. She has a very
active interest in music, although she doesn't play an instrument herself.
She's a huge music fan. She loves going to shows,
she loves hanging out with which is great. I love
(21:49):
that she still loves hanging out with her mom and
I and going to shows and doing that. But she
does not play an instrument.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Okay, well that was that was a really good pair
a parntal lesson right there.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
You know it definitely, Uh, it did not have the
outcome I was hoping for, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Because it's true. He's at that age where he'll look
at me in a certain like side eye when I
tell him not to do it, and I'll look away,
and then he goes to do it again, and he'll
just give me a certain look like I'm going to
do it. Oh, I love him. I love him, and
then I sometimes I want to throwhim out the window,
but I love him.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
I mean, that's the joy of parenthood, right.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Yeah, I've I'm learning. I've definitely uh, you know, as you.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Can tell me at the beginning, that's a very uh,
that's a very accurate words raising a child. I mean,
I still claim to have none of the answers. Talk
to me in ten years and I'll let you know
how it turns out and and what's going on in
my world. You just kind of I think you're just
along for the ride at times.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Fair enough. And what's really funny to tie everything together,
my my wife's mom was trying to cram the Beatles
down her throat growing Okay, so she hated it. Okay,
Now we've gotten to the fact that my son is
named Harrison after drug. Okay, so she's obviously you know,
she hated and was a child, and then she's just
when her mom, you know, passed away, then she's so like, Okay,
(23:15):
I love the Beatles.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Now that's great. You can finally admit it, right, you
can put your pride aside and actually admit it.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Yeah. Yeah, So I'm sure he'll grow up to hate
guns and roses anyway.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
He'll he'll tell you that for a while, but but
there'll come a time.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
What about you, because what's here? Do you have any
I know we already talked. You haven't met Richard fordis
criss crossing paths? Have you? Have you met any of
the guys? Have you gone to shows? Do you have
any history with G and R?
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Not a personal history, unfortunately, but I've been to numerous shows,
and as recently as I I'm doing the math here
twenty three, twenty twenty three, they were doing a lot
of the European festivals through the summer of twenty twenty two,
(24:01):
and we were lucky enough to be on some of
those festivals in Europe that summer, so I was able
to see I think three or four shows over the summer. Yeah, yeah,
which was great. It's really fun to see them in
a context, in context like that. It's not what I'm
used to seeing, so that would be the last opportunity
I had to see them. I'm actually monitoring the schedule
(24:23):
and monitoring the dates for this year, this coming year,
and hopefully I'll be able to catch one of the shows.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Cool.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Yeah, but I have not. Unfortunately, I have not had
any I don't have any personal personal history with any
of the guys other than being a fan for so
many years.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Do you see them back in the day as well
or just the current I did?
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Yeah, yeah, my memory of exactly when it is a
little fuzzy. It was you use your illusion era. Yeah,
so I never I did not see I guess what
you'd call the original incarnation. I did not see that
incarnation of the band perform live, which I would have
(25:03):
loved to have done back in the day. But okay,
but wasn't in the cards for me.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
I don't I can't blame you for forgetting concerts. I
I can't believe I have no memory of this. And
this is not even as bad that I saw Guns
of Roses in two thousand and six at the Hammerstein Ballroom.
I found a ticket stub. I had no memory of it.
I asked you, I have memories of all the other shows.
I'm like, why do I have no memory of this?
(25:29):
And I'm like trying to figure out what friends I
would have went with, and they're like, no, we went
you know, during Welcome to Jungle, we're all locked arms
and then they you know, everyone was crazy. After I'm like,
I'm like I and.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
You just completely Maybe I just wiped it from the
hard drive.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Hunt I've smoked too much. Maybe I don't know.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Apparently, Well, that makes for a good story in and
of itself.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Exactly nine years without a drink, though, congratulations, that means anything.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
A result of that night? Was it a result of
that night when you decide you forgot a show and
that's time.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
To No, No, that was you know, that was like
way early, I know, the different, different time and place
I think, when I didn't even know I was such
a nerd. Well, I guess you should never drink and smoke,
I should say now as a parent, but kids out there,
yeah yeah, but I never did any of those things
until college, where a lot of those people, a lot
(26:23):
of friends will experiments in high school. But I was,
I guess, wasn't that kid? And I was baseball cards
and uh, you know going to concerts, you know, afraid
to talk to girls. No, no, none of that.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
That's still me.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
That cool stuff that everybody else was doing.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Anyway, But speaking of to go back to Ford, it
tie in with the schedule C and G and R
possibly for you this year because I've spoken about it
with my wife, and possibly going to Europe taking my son.
We went to England, so it is on a trip
we will do. But does that mean that you have
an open schedule because I would be remiss if I
(27:01):
didn't bring this up and you know that of.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Course, of course. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
And I know because you spoke a little bit off
the air about it. I know, and I didn't listen
to of course, because I think the interview was in Swedish,
So how would I know what came out in Blabermouth
about former lead singer Eric gronwall Uh to say get
more into detail about that there was a schedule. Hey,
I could do this, but they didn't want to do that.
(27:25):
You know, as the fan, it seems like that's doable
or but I know there's a lot of more cogs
in the machine, you know, is there any is there
anything you could talk about? I know, I got to
imagine this is a Rachel snake call, but what I
don't know, whatever you can share.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Yeah, so I, I mean, really, the best way I
can answer that is I have not read the article,
so I'm not qualified to speak on on exactly what
he said. And apparently if you were referring to an
audio interview in Swedish, I have not heard the the
I have not read any type of interview or articles,
(28:04):
so I'm really not qualified to respond to what he said.
But you hit the nail on the head. I think
the best answer is in short form, A lot of
things seem simple and very easily easily settled and easily negotiated,
but but there's oftentimes more to it than that. It's
(28:25):
not as simple as a quick SoundBite might might make
it seem. That's my that's my only response, and even
that I'm speculating, I really don't know exactly what was
said or what I can add to it.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Sure, and I don't want to do disservice because contact matters,
which is why Sure. I love the ability that the
podcasts and do this. Although I do appreciate when Blabermouth
and other sites pick me up. You don't know how
it was said in the inflection, so I don't think
I would do a great service of eating you his words,
so I would I don't want to do that. But
(29:05):
last I spoke with Scottie and this has come out.
I think in recent interviews that you guys are still looking.
Lizzie Hale has made I think it was very q
comments saying that we can date, but we can't marry.
She'll still help out. I guess as of this moment
you are you, is there any progress been made, because
because you made it sound like you have the year open,
(29:26):
want to see guns of royal but it's not that long.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Yeah, in terms of tour dates there there is nothing
on the on the calendar at the moment. So in
terms of touring, the year is open. We are on
an active search. We have had some really strong candidates.
We have some people that were really heavily engaged with
(29:50):
U and looking at We're not there yet. As of
this moment, as you and I are talking right now,
nothing has been finalized. Nothing has been been I nothing's
been finalized, is really the best way to say that.
It's a long process. You know, it's you want it
to be a quick and easy process, but like most
(30:13):
things in life, that's not really it's not really the case.
So no, Salid updates, No grand announcements for you as
of this moment, other than we are still still working
through the process.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
That's cool, one follow up and then won't move on
just because I'm curious if you're able to answer, is
there something that you know that you are looking for
or you'll just know when you find it.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
It's you know, that's it's the it's the latter. I
think we we know as as individuals and as a
group we know, but to put it in words, it
almost feels to me like you're confining it. If I were,
if I were to give you four or five adjectives
to say this is what I'm looking for, I it's
(31:02):
we want somebody who has a presence and a personality
and has something about themselves. Anybody who knows the band's
history kind of knows we are. We're an energetic band.
We take pride in that we're an energetic band. We
have a particular way of doing things. That's not to
say that we're not open to somebody bringing their own
(31:22):
stamp to it, but it's that's a very difficult question
for me to answer. So I would say that you
hit the nail on the head by saying we'll know
it when we see it. But it is a pre
existing thing, right. That's a that's a difficult balance. It's
you're talking about hit songs and you're talking about a
very long catalog from a band who's who has a
(31:46):
loyal fan base. And although throughout the years, I you
see younger fans coming and you see fans turnover, I
guess if you will. But but there is still a core.
There's a history, and there's a legacy and a heritage
that you have to honor that we want to honor.
So we don't want to deviate too far from that.
(32:06):
But at the same time, there's room for evolution and
each chapter, each era of the band is different in
its own right.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
Hey again, you're talking to the gn R guy. You know,
I saw the Buckethead version live, you know. You know,
It's like I've seen all of that. So it's I
never thought I would get to see Axel and Slash.
I'm like, I'm only going to see you know, Axel
and Bumblefoot Axel. And but I'll say this though, and
how we started off, every version has its merit, and
(32:34):
I'm so glad that the music that I love, whether
it's gn R or skid Row, just like the hard
rock that I love is being played out there live
with the people who wrote it and people who love
playing it and people who write good dudes. You know
you know you're a good dude when you follow me
on Instagram, like Robert Habersman, Richard Fordis, I could go on.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
We're just trying to be good role models.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
So what is keeping you busy then, other than just
all the behind the scenes stuff that we've kind of
alluded to, What is Rob Happersmith doing and is there
anything that we could look forward to? Are you working
on anything music related or not?
Speaker 1 (33:16):
Yeah? So I se I do. I try to stay
as busy as I can, although, like everything else, sometimes
that's that's not as busy as I want to be.
With the holidays passing, it's everything kind of kind of
slows down for me around the holidays, which is which
is normal, that's to be expected. I do try to
stay as active as I can. I doing some session work,
(33:39):
some studio projects, things like that, mostly around the Atlanta,
Georgia area, occasionally traveling a little bit to do something
like that. Nothing that I'm able to discuss at the moment.
I've got a couple of things coming up for later
this month. You know, it's it's the downtime. Although wasn't
(34:00):
it wasn't planned, It wasn't anything that we were that
we were predicting. But it's been good for me in
a lot of ways. It's been good to take a
step back and and to do some different things with
my time. Uh. Playing drums is always going to be
my first, my first love, my first passion. I love
doing that as much as I'm able to outside of
(34:21):
the skid Row world. Uh, And lately I've been able
to find some opportunities to go and do that, and
hopefully that will continue.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
For this year, I think so. I mean, it's been
a long way since Buffalo and keeping busy and that's right,
you know, it's I really just appreciate your time today,
And like, this is why I love again doing these podcasts.
Get to highlight certain people that you know when I
see them now, when I when I listen to live
(34:50):
in London, now, I now I know Rob Haverersmith and
it makes me enjoy the music even more and being like, yeah,
I know that guy and I like that guy.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Well, thank you for thank you for having me this
has been great and we're a fan of yours as well,
So this has been a lot of fun for me.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
Thank you. That's that sounds so weird to me, and
I'm just to me. I'm just a guy who likes rock,
happened to works in radio. Started this podcast with out
of depression, really and not getting my creative itch through
my career scratched. And I little did I know that
I'd be doing this all this, all these years later,
(35:24):
sometimes incorporating Baby Brownstone when he's away. Thankfully, he was
quiet all episode.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
He did, he did, he did? All right?
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Yeah, yeah, we did buy him. I've mentioned it before
on the podcast. Little drum set that you can smack on,
We'll see. I taped him. He started to really get
into music a little bit more. I played Alexa play
guns and roses. I said that quiet because she will answer,
and it came on with Paradise City and he starts like,
(35:55):
you know, bouncing. I shared it on my Stories and
Richard fordis liked it.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
So that's what I am. I'm I'm a fan. I'm
a fan boy. I hate that word, but I guess
I was a fan at heart, so I like to
you and the people who I admire and music that
I like. It's like a look talk about music and
life and all that, you know, the positive stuff. There's
so much negative going around with the fires, and this
is a nice little break. So hopefully I've given you
a break.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
I agree, you know, It's it's funny. I I I'm
so grateful and I'm so thankful that I've I've had
the opportunity to play in a band like Skip Row
for for going on fifteen years. That's an amazing thing
and it's something that I really I I always I
always wanted to find an opportunity like this for myself,
(36:44):
and in all those years, the one thing I've always
felt like, as long as I do this gig, I'm
really I'm still trying to hold on to being a
fan of of music and playing drums. I'm trying to
hold on to that as long as I can, and
(37:06):
I think unfortunately it's that's not always the case. So
you talk about being a fan boy, and you talk
about just just loving and admiring the art, and and
you obviously have a particular particular thing within the in
the genre that's really spoken to you and resonates with you,
and I've recently been able to go back and just
rediscover my love of just just music in general and
(37:31):
playing drums and not specifically within one thing, but just
my love and my my excitement about about music. So
I don't think fanboy is a bad word, especially at
our age. If we can refer to ourselves as boys,
that's that's.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
Great, That's very true. Yeah true.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
So I love hearing that from you, and it's it's
fun for me to kind of kind of go back
and reconnect with some of that for myself.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
No, I get that I was kind of losing my
I hate to say, my love for radio with just
the way the he was going. And then this podcast
came out of no wearing being able to connect with
listeners all over the world to get the interview people
like you, and it's just been a wonderful experience. So
I hope we get to do this again, Rob, when
you got the line up set and you're ready to
get and when you're ready to go, we'll have you back.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
That sounds great.
Speaker 2 (38:18):
Wait when will we see the next episode? In the
words of Axel Rose concerning Chinese democracy, I don't know
as soon as the word, but you'll see it.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
Thanks to the lame ass security. I'm going home.
You know this is Appetite for Distortion.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Welcome to the podcast Appetite for Distortion. My name is Brando,
Episode number four hundred and eighty eight. Welcome to the podcast,
mister Rob Harsmith, how are you much?
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Thanks for having me, Brando. Good to see you.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
I appreciate that Robert Harrismith from from skid Row and
I could say, I guess I can say fellow New
Yorker even though I'm in the Borrows and Tony Dans
and you're from Buffalo.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Originally, I'm originally from I claim Buffalo, New York. I'm
from a small town just south of Buffalo, New York.
So I'm at the complete opposite end of the state.
Most people, when you say New York obviously think of
the city and then most people most people assume that
New York State is two parts. You've got New York
(01:20):
City and then you've got what they call upstate. A
lot of people don't realize there's Central New York and
Western New York. So I'm from the opposite side of
the state from Western New York. But I'm down in Atlanta,
Georgia now, and I've been down here for I think
a fast track. I think about twenty six, twenty seven
years something like that. So I made a lap around
(01:41):
the country over the course of a handful of years,
and I came to Atlanta with the attention of staying
for three weeks and that was twenty six years ago.
So here I am, Yeah, here I am.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
All right, we'll get some of that story between moves.
And yeah, that part of New York you might as
well be Canada. You know, you might say lovingly too,
but it's like it's a different planet.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
I mean I could see it from my backyard, so
you're not wrong.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Well, I appreciate you taking someone some time to talk
out to talk to me today, skid Row. First of all,
can you just tell me, like, what's the latest going
on as far as live in London? Is that the
latest thing that skid Row is promoting that that's out
because I've been lucky enough to have all the other
current members on, so shout out the Snake, shout out
(02:29):
to Rachel, shout out to Scottie and now Rob and
you know live in London because you guys follow me
on Twitter and it's it's just been cool. So is
that the big thing you guys are pushing right now,
that's the biggest.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Yeah, so we have lost track of the dates. I
should remember these dates better. I believe it was late
October that the album dropped to the Live in London album.
The album was actually recorded close to two years ago now,
but you know, with most bands, we don't move as
quickly or as efficiently as we would like to.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Sometimes talk to a Guns n' Roses nerd like, well, yeah,
I mean it's the world the.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Worst, so I guess yeah, when you say it like that,
two years isn't so bad, right, Yeah, So that was
that was late last year, and we're really proud of
that record. We're really happy with with the final product
the band. It's hard to believe this, but in the
band's entire history, that is the first proper full length
(03:32):
live recording that the band has done, so that in
and of itself adds an extra level of excitement for us.
So we were really happy about that.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
And another thing that flipped back to the g n
R of course, I mean their live album isn't really
live where a lot of it's been doctored, and same
thing with the EP, so yeah, maybe we'll get an
official g n R all these years later life.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Yeah, would be we got these shows coming up. I
see they're announcing these shows for this year, So you
and I will talk about that at some point. Yeah,
maybe you can get some getting somebody's here about them
doing some live recordings.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
That would be great me and somebody's here. But that's
actually a great segue because I've spoken at nauseum about
and about certain things on this podcast, one of them
being is just to get you as an interview. I
I hate to say it was easy because I was
lucky enough that you followed me. I was like, okay,
(04:34):
so I assume if I asked him to be on
my show, great, and you did. And that's happened at times.
I mean, first time I got Dave Kushner from Velvet,
he that was set up through Twitter. You just never know.
But G and R A obviously a different monstrosity. And
long story short, I've been told, I've been I have
I'm not allowed to have certain members on again or
(04:55):
you all. It's just been a hot button issue. And
you know about hot button issues.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Here between, I'm surrounded by hot button issues.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yeah, you don't know what I'm putting, You know what
I'm putting down.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
I do, I do so. Oh.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I could also say this because it's still January. Happy
New Year, by the way, as well. My brains, my
brain's everywhere. So I didn't I say that because I
didn't have my twenty twenty five Bingo card either. You
following me on Twitter, but Richard fortis following me. I
don't know if you've ever met him.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
I've never met him. No, No, we uh in passing.
We occasionally in passing, whether it's a festival event or
or through mutual friends, we will occasionally cross paths. But
I have never officially met him.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Okay, because he's he's been everywhere, so you just never know.
I mean, the crossing paths is enough. I've never unless
he was on stage, I've never crossed paths, and he's
been in New York. I've just never crossed paths with him.
But now, okay, what you're thinking is what I was thinking.
This is a scam, right, I'm sure it happens on
skid Row's page. Everyone's age. Oh, this is this is
(06:02):
really you know, uh, this is really Rob Harsmith, or
this is really Axel Rose sent me a dine privately,
you know, a bullshit. So I'm like, this is not
going to happen. This is not really Richard fordis. Click
on the link, it's really him. Wow, Okay, I slept
on it because like, this must be a mistake. This
always happened to me my entire life, whenever a good
(06:23):
looking girl would You're.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Getting cynical in your old age. What's going on here, Branda?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
This is the part of New York that's different. You're positive,
I'm beat down. I'm negative. I'm like, he just must
have been this must have been a mistake. I had
to wait a full day and I I just reply
to him. I really wow. I follow him back, of
course at this point, I'm like, thank you. You know,
if you ever want to come back on the show,
I'll be careful what I talk about. I say this
to all my guests, as you know. And he just
(06:50):
responds with, you know, Hey, I'm on a road trip
right now and I've listened to the first five episodes,
and I really like what you're doing. I've never really
heard anything from the fan perspective like this. We're kind
of in our own insulur it kind of like our
own world, which is why I love these podcasts because
it kind of opens you up from the insulaur world
(07:10):
that where you're taken from this press junket to that
press junket, this stadium, this band. So I'll be I
won't reveal everything he said, nothing like too amazing, no
new music, and didn't ask about that. Wouldn't that be amazing?
That randomly Richard Fortce is like, gives me the day
for new GNR music.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
That's right, get scoop.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
But this is uh And I feel like, I guess
I can because you're a very I can see a
very sincere person and I can have this conversation with you.
And this is a good launching pad off from Richard Fortis.
Because Richard was on the show a few years ago,
didn't expect him to remember me. I didn't even get
into that, but what he took away and I didn't
(07:49):
know what I had said, and he didn't give a
specifics or what people on my show may have said
about his role in the band. Richard Fordyce has been
in the band longer than is he straddling. He's been
in the band for a long time. He's never claimed
to have written Sweet Child of Mind any of that stuff.
He's on Chinese Democracy, he's on the new releases, whatever,
(08:09):
but there are still fans that go, where's so and so,
where's is he? In his case, he even has a
shirt so hopefully you buy it and it says, I
don't know where Izzy is with his logo behind it
isn't that great? Yeah, so, but what he said it
hurt my feelings and I apologize to him, and he
said this wasn't towards me that he sees. I can't
(08:31):
believe he used this word that how unimportant that some
fans see his role that he's just doesn't matter how
great of a player he is. He's not easy. He's
not that person, okay, And he's like that was a
bitter pill to swallow. But I understand it. I know how,
and I gave him my opinion, which is what which
(08:52):
is the truth? I know how important his role is.
There may not be a current version of Guns and
Roses without him, and that's the right. You don't know
if how well he works in that room and makes
sure that all those personalities work is the reason why
it's that lineup today that it fits and why they're
so successful and they're going on tour again, what you
(09:12):
alluded to this year, is that something that you've so
the flip it back that you've struggled with, you know,
with the revolving door which guns roses have had with guitarists. Sure,
you've been with but you've been with skid Row for
what a decade now decade.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
I've been with skid Row for fifteen years, coming up
on fifteen years. It's that's a really, it's a long time.
It is a long time. It's the longest job I've
ever held, So that'll tell you by a long shot.
So I wasn't qualified to do much else. But that's
it's a really, it's a very good question. It's an
(09:51):
interesting scenario that you're describing. It's i to say, I've
struggled with it. It's been a challenge so to start,
people like myself and the Richard Ford situation, and anybody
who might be walking into a situation like this right
(10:11):
out of the gate. You're already choosing to work in
an industry where thick skin is a requirement. And that's
not exclusive to music. That's true of so many industries,
but entertainment in general. The music industry, you've got to
have thick skin. Even if you are an original member,
or you are a multi platinum artist or an amazing songwriter,
(10:37):
or whatever the case might be, you still need to
going into it thick skin is a requirement. And I'm
not gonna lie. I've had some days or some moments
that I was a little bit better equipped to get
through it than others. It's a challenge, but I think
for myself, I'm committed to what I do and and
(11:00):
I'm very fortunate that I'm in a situation and I'm
surrounded by people. We've had our ups and downs. Don't
get me wrong, it's a family. Anybody who tells you
that being in a band is like a family, they're
absolutely right. And it sounds cliche, but it's one hundred
percent true. And with that, you certainly have moments, or
you have days, or you have periods of time where
it's a little bit easier than others. So yeah, I've
(11:23):
definitely I think the struggle is probably the right word.
I've been challenged by it. Trying to figure out makes
sense of your role in something that's much bigger than
any one individual. That can be really challenging. And when
so many people the fan base or even if they're
(11:43):
not fans, if there if they're music enthusiasts, or if
they're record collectors or or whomever it is. Even if
they're not necessarily a fan, people claim a part of it, right,
So they claim a part of the history as whether
they've been a fan, or they've been following the band,
or they maybe were a fan for a particular era
(12:05):
and not so much anymore. Everybody weighs in on it,
so you've really got to within yourself figure out how
you feel about it and how you feel about your
role in things. And that's a roller coaster for sure.
So I can relate to that. I'm fortunate. I'm surrounded
by some very supportive people. I have found out in
(12:27):
my tenure with skid Row. If I'm struggling with something,
let's talk about it, let's communicate, let's support each other,
let's be respectful, let's really figure out how to make
this work for everybody. That's been my experience with the guys.
But I can certainly relate to the situations that you're describing.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
I appreciate you sharing that, and you're right, But the
thick skin I got to have it in my profession
and just in life you really needed I.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Think now more than ever, right, I think with this
thing called the Internet and just our culture the way
it is now, we really do have a culture and
a society where everybody, everybody has the ability to weigh
in on everything. And I don't know if that's always
(13:17):
a good thing. It's certainly not a natural thing. It's not,
but it's it definitely creates a different set of of
of criteria. I think that on a personal level, I
think people need to understand how they need to have
a healthy relationship with that and coexist with it because
it's not going away. And you also, at the end
(13:40):
of the day, have to understand that there are some
people out there no matter what you choose to do,
no matter what you do, they're not going to be impressed.
They're not going to like it. And and hopefully those
are fewer than than not. But but that's just the
reality of it.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
That's the right mindset, because yeah, there are some people
who you're just like, all right, I'm gonna mentally tap
out that nothing's going to change here. Sure, but also
those that you say that are the mainstays in a band,
whether it's Guns of Roses, or skid row. There are
those that are still going to find something to critique.
(14:17):
And again, I know that being a guns of Roses,
an axe, a Rose fan, I don't expect an almost
sixty three year old to you know, be like he's
twenty three. Again, that's sure, that's impossible. So yeah, no
matter who it is, you know, it just stinks because
I wish I could everybody could take step back and
(14:37):
just realize they're all people. It's funny. I like how
you phrased it. This is the longest job that you've
ever had. It's a job. You have a cool ass job, right,
but it's a job, and you're a person, and yeah
it's a public thing, but that shouldn't allow certain people.
Just just because you're public, doesn't mean you should be
allowed to certain open yourself up to certain and things
(15:00):
that I don't know, because you're you're still a person,
You're still you know. I'm sorry because I keep thinking
about the which is hard, even all the way on
the east coast here the LA wildfires, and I'm sure
you have a lot of friends over there. Absolutely, yeah,
just horrendous. You know, whether it's just the common person
who've lived there, the entire life there, or the celebrity
(15:23):
have lost their homes, and then you can see comments
about celebrities, Oh they can buy another house. Oh no
big deal, it's so whatever, and that bothers me. There's
still people, there's still people that lost their memories, that
lost their home, their beds.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Absolutely yeah, and they may have been an actual physical
danger at one point. And it's it's not it's not really.
It is human nature, I think to to want to
offer an opinion or weigh in on on every every
every subject or exactly what you're describing. But but you're right,
(15:57):
at the end of the day, it's not my place
to decide exactly how that affects that person. That's not
my that's not my place to do that. I'm not
saying that I don't, But that's a lesson you learn,
I think through through a little bit of growing up
and a little bit of maturity. But you're absolutely right,
that's really a really powerful situation right now, and we're
(16:20):
all seeing it. We're all seeing it, whether we're affected
directly and we're right there in it, or if we're
watching it on the news from the other side of
the country. We're all kind of seeing this thing unfold.
And you're absolutely right, it's a very fascinating thing to
watch how drastically different some people respond to it and
react to it. A lot of people I kind of
(16:43):
latch onto the story or the narrative of what might
be going on there, and there's a there's a a
temptation to use that for maybe a particular agenda you
might have, or opinions and things like that. Is that
right or wrong? I think it can be done incorrectly.
(17:04):
Like anything, there's the right way to do it and
the wrong way to do it. And it's just it's
bizarre watching people sometimes it's a it's a very interesting
thing to sit back and watch.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
That's the right word. Bizarre. It's very bizarre. You know.
That's because you kind of have to laugh at it,
otherwise you'll just go down, you know, a negative hole.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
But right, things can get dark pretty quick. And and
you know what, I say this, and you and I
we can we can be completely honest with each other.
It's I don't say all this stuff because I always
get it right. Uh, But these are the things as
I grow up and as I get older and really
start to look at people and and what kind of
person do I want to be or what kind of
(17:45):
person do I do I strive to be? Uh. It's
really interesting to watch certain situations like this and how
people respond to them.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
So this is a good jumping off point and to
flip from so much little the negative to more of
the positive, fun things to talk about. I told you
off air that my my dormance he'll be two in April,
baby Brownstone. I don't know if I'll start calling him
there was a toddler. I'll have to come up with
some stupid GNR pond for everything that I do. But
(18:17):
you mentioned off the air that you have a sixteen
year old.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
She will be sixteen tomorrow. That's crazy, right?
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Happy?
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Depending upon when I air this, either happy early birthday
or happy birthday because me they're a nice today or
the day after.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
You know I love talking about this now as a parent,
but I always talked about this anyway, just how you
were as a child, and I think you have spoken
about how you were your path in different interviews. But
when you were raising your daughter, you know, what kind
of music did you share with her? Did you ever
want to I don't want to say push her or
(18:52):
just maybe encourage her to be like for rock and roll,
to be a musician or you know, for me. My son, again,
he doesn't really ask anything yet other than miss Rachel. Okay,
But I mean he's got long blonde hair, he's got
ac DC T shirt. He's already I'm already pushing with
the be a rocker. Whether he likes it or not.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
That's a good question. Well, and I'll share a funny
story quickly. When we moved my family and we have
been in this home for almost thirteen years now. When
we first moved to this particular house, one of the
things that I wanted to do immediately was to finish
(19:33):
a space for myself to be able to play drums
at home and be able to do that, ideally with
access twenty four hours a day whatever I wanted to do,
regardless of what time it was, not bother people in
the house. And I know how dreadful it can be
living with a musician, and I didn't want to be
that person anymore if I could help it. So we
(19:55):
have a small area in our home. I have drums,
and I have some gear stored and things like that.
So when our daughter was very young, she would spend
time with me in the drum room and I loved it.
It was great. And what I realized a little insight
into my personality is I was a little uptight about
(20:16):
certain pieces of gear and reminding her to be careful
and don't touch this. You can play with this one,
but don't touch that one. And then I realized one day,
and this is where the story takes a turn. I
realized that I was letting maybe the uptype part of
my personality get a little out of hand. So I
gave the speech at the dinner table one night, and
(20:37):
I said, all right, here's the deal. I don't want
to be I don't want to be the person that
turns you off to the idea of playing music before
you even have a chance to fall in love with it.
So you are more than welcome to go in the
drum room play drums as much as you want. That
makes me very happy. I just have two rules. You
have to protect your hearing. And I gave her her
headphones and I said, just let me know when you're
(20:59):
going in there, because I can't. I always hear you
depending on where I am, and I just need to
know where you are. The day I gave her permission
was the last day she ever went in the drummer.
So when it was when it was forbidden fruit, like
any kid, like, I'm still this way as an adult.
But when it was forbidden fruit, she was in there
every day at least twice a day. And as soon
(21:20):
as I gave her permission and said knock yourself out,
have fun with it, that was the last day she
ever went in the drummer.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
So having said that, me attempting to be the little dad,
I didn't exactly go as planned. She has a very
active interest in music, although she doesn't play an instrument herself.
She's a huge music fan. She loves going to shows,
she loves hanging out with which is great. I love
(21:49):
that she still loves hanging out with her mom and
I and going to shows and doing that. But she
does not play an instrument.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Okay, well that was that was a really good pair
a parntal lesson right there.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
You know it definitely, Uh, it did not have the
outcome I was hoping for, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Because it's true. He's at that age where he'll look
at me in a certain like side eye when I
tell him not to do it, and I'll look away,
and then he goes to do it again, and he'll
just give me a certain look like I'm going to
do it. Oh, I love him. I love him, and
then I sometimes I want to throwhim out the window,
but I love him.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
I mean, that's the joy of parenthood, right.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Yeah, I've I'm learning. I've definitely uh, you know, as you.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Can tell me at the beginning, that's a very uh,
that's a very accurate words raising a child. I mean,
I still claim to have none of the answers. Talk
to me in ten years and I'll let you know
how it turns out and and what's going on in
my world. You just kind of I think you're just
along for the ride at times.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Fair enough. And what's really funny to tie everything together,
my my wife's mom was trying to cram the Beatles
down her throat growing Okay, so she hated it. Okay,
Now we've gotten to the fact that my son is
named Harrison after drug. Okay, so she's obviously you know,
she hated and was a child, and then she's just
when her mom, you know, passed away, then she's so like, Okay,
(23:15):
I love the Beatles.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Now that's great. You can finally admit it, right, you
can put your pride aside and actually admit it.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Yeah. Yeah, So I'm sure he'll grow up to hate
guns and roses anyway.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
He'll he'll tell you that for a while, but but
there'll come a time.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
What about you, because what's here? Do you have any
I know we already talked. You haven't met Richard fordis
criss crossing paths? Have you? Have you met any of
the guys? Have you gone to shows? Do you have
any history with G and R?
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Not a personal history, unfortunately, but I've been to numerous shows,
and as recently as I I'm doing the math here
twenty three, twenty twenty three, they were doing a lot
of the European festivals through the summer of twenty twenty two,
(24:01):
and we were lucky enough to be on some of
those festivals in Europe that summer, so I was able
to see I think three or four shows over the summer. Yeah, yeah,
which was great. It's really fun to see them in
a context, in context like that. It's not what I'm
used to seeing, so that would be the last opportunity
I had to see them. I'm actually monitoring the schedule
(24:23):
and monitoring the dates for this year, this coming year,
and hopefully I'll be able to catch one of the shows.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Cool.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Yeah, but I have not. Unfortunately, I have not had
any I don't have any personal personal history with any
of the guys other than being a fan for so
many years.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Do you see them back in the day as well
or just the current I did?
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Yeah, yeah, my memory of exactly when it is a
little fuzzy. It was you use your illusion era. Yeah,
so I never I did not see I guess what
you'd call the original incarnation. I did not see that
incarnation of the band perform live, which I would have
(25:03):
loved to have done back in the day. But okay,
but wasn't in the cards for me.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
I don't I can't blame you for forgetting concerts. I
I can't believe I have no memory of this. And
this is not even as bad that I saw Guns
of Roses in two thousand and six at the Hammerstein Ballroom.
I found a ticket stub. I had no memory of it.
I asked you, I have memories of all the other shows.
I'm like, why do I have no memory of this?
(25:29):
And I'm like trying to figure out what friends I
would have went with, and they're like, no, we went
you know, during Welcome to Jungle, we're all locked arms
and then they you know, everyone was crazy. After I'm like,
I'm like I and.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
You just completely Maybe I just wiped it from the
hard drive.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Hunt I've smoked too much. Maybe I don't know.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Apparently, Well, that makes for a good story in and
of itself.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Exactly nine years without a drink, though, congratulations, that means anything.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
A result of that night? Was it a result of
that night when you decide you forgot a show and
that's time.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
To No, No, that was you know, that was like
way early, I know, the different, different time and place
I think, when I didn't even know I was such
a nerd. Well, I guess you should never drink and smoke,
I should say now as a parent, but kids out there,
yeah yeah, but I never did any of those things
until college, where a lot of those people, a lot
(26:23):
of friends will experiments in high school. But I was,
I guess, wasn't that kid? And I was baseball cards
and uh, you know going to concerts, you know, afraid
to talk to girls. No, no, none of that.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
That's still me.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
That cool stuff that everybody else was doing.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Anyway, But speaking of to go back to Ford, it
tie in with the schedule C and G and R
possibly for you this year because I've spoken about it
with my wife, and possibly going to Europe taking my son.
We went to England, so it is on a trip
we will do. But does that mean that you have
an open schedule because I would be remiss if I
(27:01):
didn't bring this up and you know that of.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Course, of course. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
And I know because you spoke a little bit off
the air about it. I know, and I didn't listen
to of course, because I think the interview was in Swedish,
So how would I know what came out in Blabermouth
about former lead singer Eric gronwall Uh to say get
more into detail about that there was a schedule. Hey,
I could do this, but they didn't want to do that.
(27:25):
You know, as the fan, it seems like that's doable
or but I know there's a lot of more cogs
in the machine, you know, is there any is there
anything you could talk about? I know, I got to
imagine this is a Rachel snake call, but what I
don't know, whatever you can share.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Yeah, so I, I mean, really, the best way I
can answer that is I have not read the article,
so I'm not qualified to speak on on exactly what
he said. And apparently if you were referring to an
audio interview in Swedish, I have not heard the the
I have not read any type of interview or articles,
(28:04):
so I'm really not qualified to respond to what he said.
But you hit the nail on the head. I think
the best answer is in short form, A lot of
things seem simple and very easily easily settled and easily negotiated,
but but there's oftentimes more to it than that. It's
(28:25):
not as simple as a quick SoundBite might might make
it seem. That's my that's my only response, and even
that I'm speculating, I really don't know exactly what was
said or what I can add to it.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Sure, and I don't want to do disservice because contact matters,
which is why Sure. I love the ability that the
podcasts and do this. Although I do appreciate when Blabermouth
and other sites pick me up. You don't know how
it was said in the inflection, so I don't think
I would do a great service of eating you his words,
so I would I don't want to do that. But
(29:05):
last I spoke with Scottie and this has come out.
I think in recent interviews that you guys are still looking.
Lizzie Hale has made I think it was very q
comments saying that we can date, but we can't marry.
She'll still help out. I guess as of this moment
you are you, is there any progress been made, because
because you made it sound like you have the year open,
(29:26):
want to see guns of royal but it's not that long.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Yeah, in terms of tour dates there there is nothing
on the on the calendar at the moment. So in
terms of touring, the year is open. We are on
an active search. We have had some really strong candidates.
We have some people that were really heavily engaged with
(29:50):
U and looking at We're not there yet. As of
this moment, as you and I are talking right now,
nothing has been finalized. Nothing has been been I nothing's
been finalized, is really the best way to say that.
It's a long process. You know, it's you want it
to be a quick and easy process, but like most
(30:13):
things in life, that's not really it's not really the case.
So no, Salid updates, No grand announcements for you as
of this moment, other than we are still still working
through the process.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
That's cool, one follow up and then won't move on
just because I'm curious if you're able to answer, is
there something that you know that you are looking for
or you'll just know when you find it.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
It's you know, that's it's the it's the latter. I
think we we know as as individuals and as a
group we know, but to put it in words, it
almost feels to me like you're confining it. If I were,
if I were to give you four or five adjectives
to say this is what I'm looking for, I it's
(31:02):
we want somebody who has a presence and a personality
and has something about themselves. Anybody who knows the band's
history kind of knows we are. We're an energetic band.
We take pride in that we're an energetic band. We
have a particular way of doing things. That's not to
say that we're not open to somebody bringing their own
(31:22):
stamp to it, but it's that's a very difficult question
for me to answer. So I would say that you
hit the nail on the head by saying we'll know
it when we see it. But it is a pre
existing thing, right. That's a that's a difficult balance. It's
you're talking about hit songs and you're talking about a
very long catalog from a band who's who has a
(31:46):
loyal fan base. And although throughout the years, I you
see younger fans coming and you see fans turnover, I
guess if you will. But but there is still a core.
There's a history, and there's a legacy and a heritage
that you have to honor that we want to honor.
So we don't want to deviate too far from that.
(32:06):
But at the same time, there's room for evolution and
each chapter, each era of the band is different in
its own right.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
Hey again, you're talking to the gn R guy. You know,
I saw the Buckethead version live, you know. You know,
It's like I've seen all of that. So it's I
never thought I would get to see Axel and Slash.
I'm like, I'm only going to see you know, Axel
and Bumblefoot Axel. And but I'll say this though, and
how we started off, every version has its merit, and
(32:34):
I'm so glad that the music that I love, whether
it's gn R or skid Row, just like the hard
rock that I love is being played out there live
with the people who wrote it and people who love
playing it and people who write good dudes. You know
you know you're a good dude when you follow me
on Instagram, like Robert Habersman, Richard Fordis, I could go on.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
We're just trying to be good role models.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
So what is keeping you busy then, other than just
all the behind the scenes stuff that we've kind of
alluded to, What is Rob Happersmith doing and is there
anything that we could look forward to? Are you working
on anything music related or not?
Speaker 1 (33:16):
Yeah? So I se I do. I try to stay
as busy as I can, although, like everything else, sometimes
that's that's not as busy as I want to be.
With the holidays passing, it's everything kind of kind of
slows down for me around the holidays, which is which
is normal, that's to be expected. I do try to
stay as active as I can. I doing some session work,
(33:39):
some studio projects, things like that, mostly around the Atlanta,
Georgia area, occasionally traveling a little bit to do something
like that. Nothing that I'm able to discuss at the moment.
I've got a couple of things coming up for later
this month. You know, it's it's the downtime. Although wasn't
(34:00):
it wasn't planned, It wasn't anything that we were that
we were predicting. But it's been good for me in
a lot of ways. It's been good to take a
step back and and to do some different things with
my time. Uh. Playing drums is always going to be
my first, my first love, my first passion. I love
doing that as much as I'm able to outside of
(34:21):
the skid Row world. Uh, And lately I've been able
to find some opportunities to go and do that, and
hopefully that will continue.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
For this year, I think so. I mean, it's been
a long way since Buffalo and keeping busy and that's right,
you know, it's I really just appreciate your time today,
And like, this is why I love again doing these podcasts.
Get to highlight certain people that you know when I
see them now, when I when I listen to live
(34:50):
in London, now, I now I know Rob Haverersmith and
it makes me enjoy the music even more and being like, yeah,
I know that guy and I like that guy.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Well, thank you for thank you for having me this
has been great and we're a fan of yours as well,
So this has been a lot of fun for me.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
Thank you. That's that sounds so weird to me, and
I'm just to me. I'm just a guy who likes rock,
happened to works in radio. Started this podcast with out
of depression, really and not getting my creative itch through
my career scratched. And I little did I know that
I'd be doing this all this, all these years later,
(35:24):
sometimes incorporating Baby Brownstone when he's away. Thankfully, he was
quiet all episode.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
He did, he did, he did? All right?
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Yeah, yeah, we did buy him. I've mentioned it before
on the podcast. Little drum set that you can smack on,
We'll see. I taped him. He started to really get
into music a little bit more. I played Alexa play
guns and roses. I said that quiet because she will answer,
and it came on with Paradise City and he starts like,
(35:55):
you know, bouncing. I shared it on my Stories and
Richard fordis liked it.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
So that's what I am. I'm I'm a fan. I'm
a fan boy. I hate that word, but I guess
I was a fan at heart, so I like to
you and the people who I admire and music that
I like. It's like a look talk about music and
life and all that, you know, the positive stuff. There's
so much negative going around with the fires, and this
is a nice little break. So hopefully I've given you
a break.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
I agree, you know, It's it's funny. I I I'm
so grateful and I'm so thankful that I've I've had
the opportunity to play in a band like Skip Row
for for going on fifteen years. That's an amazing thing
and it's something that I really I I always I
always wanted to find an opportunity like this for myself,
(36:44):
and in all those years, the one thing I've always
felt like, as long as I do this gig, I'm
really I'm still trying to hold on to being a
fan of of music and playing drums. I'm trying to
hold on to that as long as I can, and
(37:06):
I think unfortunately it's that's not always the case. So
you talk about being a fan boy, and you talk
about just just loving and admiring the art, and and
you obviously have a particular particular thing within the in
the genre that's really spoken to you and resonates with you,
and I've recently been able to go back and just
rediscover my love of just just music in general and
(37:31):
playing drums and not specifically within one thing, but just
my love and my my excitement about about music. So
I don't think fanboy is a bad word, especially at
our age. If we can refer to ourselves as boys,
that's that's.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
Great, That's very true. Yeah true.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
So I love hearing that from you, and it's it's
fun for me to kind of kind of go back
and reconnect with some of that for myself.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
No, I get that I was kind of losing my
I hate to say, my love for radio with just
the way the he was going. And then this podcast
came out of no wearing being able to connect with
listeners all over the world to get the interview people
like you, and it's just been a wonderful experience. So
I hope we get to do this again, Rob, when
you got the line up set and you're ready to
get and when you're ready to go, we'll have you back.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
That sounds great.
Speaker 2 (38:18):
Wait when will we see the next episode? In the
words of Axel Rose concerning Chinese democracy, I don't know
as soon as the word, but you'll see it.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
Thanks to the lame ass security. I'm going home.
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